'Sorry love, Unwanted fathers go in the yellow bags.' In yet another move which demonstrates that Britain is no longer great, Parliament declared fathers to be irrelevant. Fathers aren't needed say MPs: Commons decides IVF babies can do without a male role model By James Chapman 21st May 2008 Fathers were last night effectively declared an irrelevance in modern Britain. The requirement for fertility doctors to consider a child's need for a male role model before giving women IVF treatment was scrapped by MPs. In a free vote, they swept away the rule despite impassioned pleas that the Government plan would "drive another nail into the coffin of the traditional family". Labour rebels said it would send entirely the wrong signal to society as Britain faces a crisis in responsible parenting. The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, had warned it would remove the father from the heart of the family. He accused the Government of putting the interests of "consumers" who want to become parents before the welfare of children. But in the Commons, ministers won support for the legislation. Voting was 292 to 217, a majority of 75. In a second vote, a Tory attempt to underline the need for a father or "male role model" was rejected by 290 votes to 222, a majority of 68. Three senior Conservatives - Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, Cabinet Office spokesman Francis Maude and justice spokesman Nick Herbert, who is openly gay - were the only members of the shadow Cabinet to back the Government. Mr Osborne's vote will cause most surprise, since it reveals a split with party leader David Cameron on the issue. Three Cabinet ministers - Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly and Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy - voted against the Government. It emerged later that Mr Burnham, a rare champion of marriage on the Labour front bench, felt so strongly that he scrapped a visit to the Cannes film festival to be in the Commons. Mr Cameron also voted for keeping the "father" requirement, while Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg were against. The Government argued that the law as it stood discriminated against single women and lesbian couples - although both these groups can already get fertility treatment on the Health Service. From now on, doctors will have to consider only a child's need for "supportive parenting". In a highly-charged three-hour debate, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, who led the revolt against the plans, said it was essential to recognise the importance to a developing child of a father figure. "Taking it away will be as though we are saying that this is not an issue, that fathers are not important," he added. The Government's emphasis on "supportive parenting" sends a message to society that "fathers are less important than mothers", he warned.

For the last 10 years, Maggie Gallagher has been one of the clearest thinkers and writers on the topic of marriage. Her seminal work, The Abolition of Marriage, is an irrefutable defense of traditional marriage. Today, she writes that the California Supreme Court has tossed a big, fat hand grenade into the marriage debate. CALIFORNIA'S EPIC BATTLE FOR MARRIAGE AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY By Maggie Gallagher Tue May 20, 7:57 PM ET They say we are tired of culture wars. Tell that to the California Supreme Court, which didn't sound tired at all when it lobbed a big, fat hand grenade into the marriage debate. Ideas have consequences. And the California court ...